The Ties That Bind
by VigilanteFaith
Summary: What if there was more than meets the eye to the first woge Nick ever saw. The ties that draw us to people are stronger and more complicated than we know. From the beginning we will see how roads change and Fate is challenged. Nick Burkhart's life is about to go from ordinary to Wesen, and we are going for the ride. Rating will change to M later on.
1. Chapter 1

HELLO ALL! I AM BACK AND HOPEFULLY MORE ON TRACK THAN I HAVE BEEN WITH MY WRITING. THIS STORY HAS BEEN RATTLING AROUND IN MY HEAD FOR QUITE SOMETIME, LONG BEFORE NADALIND BECAME A HASHTAG. BEAR WITH ME AS WE START AT THE BEGINNING, WHICH I ALWAYS FIND IS A GOOD PLACE TO START. I WILL UPDATE EVERY WEDNESDAY. FIRST FULL CHAPTER WILL BE UP THIS WEDNESDAY. ENJOY A TASTE, THANK YOU FOR READING, AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.

I DO NOT OWN GRIMM OR ANY OF THE WONDERFUL CHARACTERS YOU MAY RECOGNIZE, I JUST ENJOY PLAYING WITH THEM. ALL NEW WESEN AND MYTHOS COME FROM THE TANGLE THAT IS MY MIND.

The elevator door opened to the frantic pace of a metropolitan precinct. Adalind Schade peeked her head around the doors checking for anyone who would recognize her and question her presence. There was no way for her to go unnoticed; she tended to stand out no matter where she went. Her long blonde hair was pin straight for her appearance in court, expensive tailored dress suit cut to accentuate her natural curves, and Manolo Blahniks clacking on the tile of the hall outside of the Homicide department. A simple looking but obviously expensive black leather bag hung from her shoulder, currently crammed with her needs for court hung from her left arm while in her right hand held a small brown basket, precisely wrapped and tagged.

Several people, plain clothes detectives and uniformed officers alike stared at her as she walked with purpose to the desk she sought. It was slightly cluttered, but she could see the pattern of organization in the chaos, exactly what she was expecting. Adalind let a smile and light chuckle escape her ruby colored lips. Not wanting to disturb anything she placed the small basket down by the name plate, Det. Nicholas Burkhart. A few men still watched her as she left the gift on the desk and left without delay. If this was the scariest thing she did today than court would be a breeze.

Nicholas Burkhart, Nick to basically everyone who knew him, strolled into the precinct with a look of satisfaction on his face for catching the home intruder who had killed an elderly couple. The knowledge that the piece of trash they caught would not hurt another innocent person helped him ignore the pain from the hits he had taken to the face and ribs. His partner, Hank Griffin, looked just as pleased but not nearly as sore. Hank's size usually deterred suspects from attacking him first, assuming Nick to be the weaker of the two. He sure hoped the broken arm the perp was booked with was a lingering reminder to not judge a man by his size.

Nick put his coat off and placed it on the back of his chair, stretching out the stiffness he was starting to feel on his left side. "Hey Burkhart, you got a present!" Sgt. Wu called across the room, drawing Nick's eye to the basket by his computer screen. He nodded his head in acknowledgment of the call out, plucking the card from the front of the beautifully wrapped gift.

"A promise is a promise." Nick read the note, smirking when he recognized precise but elegant handwriting. He put the card in his pocket and untied the ribbon holding the basket wrappings closed, the smell of chocolate hit his nose, making his stomach growl as he realized he had not eaten that morning. He picked up one of the oversized chocolate chip cookies from the basket, still warm, and took a generous bite. He smiled, 'She was right, it was worth every minute.'


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I posted this so late, it is still Wednesday here, and with all the distractions of the day this one almost slipped my mind. I have so many things I want to do with this story and would love to hear feedback if you are enjoying it.**

 **Again, I don't own Grimm, if I did it would be moving onto a season 7, but I do like to play with them. Enjoy!**

Two weeks later and Hank was still bugging his partner to tell him who brought him the cookies. Nick didn't budge with the truth, his association with Adalind was not one that was known to anyone besides the two of them, and it was safer that way. He had returned the basket the cookies came in to Adalind's office, granted it was in a box surrounded by case files and sealed so that no nosy assistant, or the uniform he had sent over with the box would be tempted to tamper with it. Nick did not enjoy keeping secrets, especially from his partner but in the grand scheme it was the wisest choice, and he had promised Adalind.

"So you still aren't going to tell me who sent you the cookies that were so good you just couldn't share?" Hank spoke up from his side of their shared workspace.

"No, I am not."

"And why is that again?" Hank leaned an elbow on his desk and hit Nick with his questioning glare.

"I am not telling you because telling you violates a promise I made, and becomes a life or death situation. The death being mine, and I value my life." Nick responded not wavering in his eye contact with Hank, who took the response as lighthearted as Nick tried to make it seem, 'If only you knew.'.

"Ok, don't tell me, but remember I am a detective who is good at his job and bitter that I did not get to enjoy a cookie." Hank hit Nick with his serious, 'Gonna catch you' face, which Nick ignored and returned to the report he was nearly done with. Hank returned to his own work, missing the smirk that crossed Nick's face.

Adalind was attempting to listen to her coworker babble on about her recent engagement but was finding her mind wandering to her current client troubles. On the surface, she was a six-figure salaried employee of Burman and Associates, high end legal cases, typically white collar; but on her off time she took pro bono cases from the local women's shelter. The struggle for most of the women there was they did not have the resources to protect themselves from the husband or significant other they were trying to escape from. Adalind knew the struggle of trying to escape, not a significant other per se but from those who would like to use her powers for their own gain. She had remained mark free for three years, swearing never to be indebted to anyone, and helping those who cannot help themselves.

"So I told him that it was a 5-star hotel for the reception or he could go and marry his hand." The sound of her coworker's shrill laugh pulled Adalind from her daze.

"I've seen his hand, so I am assuming you got the hotel." Adalind said with a laugh, able to fake most any social situation as it came.

"Damn straight. So, we reserved the entire 7th floor of the hotel as well as the two halls on the main floor. Annnnd, I hired Chef L'Rual to cater the whole weekend." She threw a huge smile at Adalind, who responded with a smile of her own, tossing in a bit of envy to appease her coworker.

"It sounds like it will be the wedding of the season. I cannot wait to see you walk down that aisle."

"I know, and who would have thought that I would be getting married before you. I mean you were with him for some time, I really was expecting him to propose." The comment was meant to cut Adalind, but time had dulled the knife and now it was merely and annoyance for being brought up.

"Well you know me, never settle for less than you deserve. Andrea, this has been really great but if I don't get back Burman is going to be lost without his top attorney at this meeting." Adalind could see the bile curdling in the mouth of her coworker. Adalind was not above playing dirty, and by this point of the coffee break she was over having to stay nice. She knew both comments would get under the skin of the insecure bride to be, who was only still with the law firm because Burman needed another Hexenbiest on his payroll. Both ladies grabbed their bags and coffees, hitting the exit.

"Well Adalind thank you for the coffee, maybe you could come dress shopping with the rest of the us later. Help get your mind off the breakup, unless that would just make you think of what could have been."

"I will think about it. Let me know if you want to go run with me before you settle on the dress, no reason you can't shouldn't look as good as you can on your big day." Adalind said with a smile that dripped honey and arsenic. Andrea couldn't bring her facial expression under control in time, while Adalind wore a sweet, genuine smile that anyone would assume was meant as such. Turning the opposite direction of her now enflamed coworker, Adalind let her mind wander back to her client and the phone call she would soon have to make to a certain detective.

It was as if the universe read her mind, one Det. Nick Burkhardt was currently leaning on his car door, staring openly at her. The man at his side must be his partner, Hank something. They didn't normally talk too much about their personal lives, they were there to do a job and the less personal it got between them the easier it was to pretend that they didn't exist to each other on the outside world. Hank seemed to be gesturing towards her direction, no way that he knew who she was, and from the face that Nick was making it was apparent that both men were checking her out. She felt the heat rise slightly in her cheeks and a smile from her lips, as she met the eyes of the detective head on. His smile turned wide as he realized she was looking at him as well, her blue eyes met his green ones and then all hell broke loose.

Nick couldn't believe his luck as he was standing outside of the jewelry store where he had just returned the wedding ring for the woman he thought he would spend the rest of his life with. Hank was assuring him that it was for the best, Nick was still young and it was hard to find a woman who would be okay with what he did for living. "Look at it this way man, means that when you see a beautiful woman you can actually enjoy it, without guilt." To prove his point Hank nodded his head in the direction of two women coming out of the coffee shop adjacent to the jewelry store. A brunette and a blonde seemed to be in a deep conversation, but from the look of the brunette's face, it was not going that way she had wanted. They went their separate ways, the hint of a smirk still on the lips of the blonde, her hair was hiding he face but the smirk was there.

"I mean you see how fine she is right."

Nick looked harder at the blonde in question and almost choked on his gum when he realized exactly who Hank was wanting him to check out. Adalind. He hadn't seen her in nearly three weeks, and the last time she wasn't nearly as done up as she was now, which could only mean she had a big client meet at her day job. Nick allowed himself to opening gawk at her since Hank had no idea who she was, and would expect him to at least address the woman in question.

"What I see is a woman who makes mid six figures, Ivy league educated, and wearing an outfit that probably cost more than both of our closets combined."

"Man, why can't you just stare at her ass like the rest of us." Hank resigned and walked to the other side of the car, leaning against it as he waited for Nick.

Nick wanted to see if Adalind would look up and notice him, seeing her outside of their arrangement was strange but he was enjoying watching her unguarded. Her head finally lifted and met his head on, meaning she knew she was being watched but from the expression on her face she had no idea it was him. His eyes locked onto her bright blue ones, the smile of joy and knowledge hit their faces at the same time. And then her face transformed, it grew old and rotting, her blonde hair turned grey, and her eyes were no longer their cerulean hue but sunk in and missing. He blinked his eyes, not sure what had just happened as Adalind put her head down and walked away, the smile gone from her face. "Come on man, we have a case." Hank woke him from his confusion, and he got in the car, trying to look back in the direction Adalind had hurried away to.

Adalind walked quickly around the corner and didn't stop until she was safely back in her office. "What the fuck was that?!" she cursed at herself. She drew her blinds down, needing the privacy to deal whatever it was that she had just experienced. She had never involuntarily woged, not one time since she came into full control of her powers. One minute she is smiling at the man she had come to depend on for sensitive cases, and the next she can feel her face changing and her Hexenbiest being called to the surface. She had to fight to keep from allowing it to fully manifest, there were so many keirsite around it would not have ended well.

Nick was a grimm, how the hell had she missed that. They had worked very closely together and she had never gotten that off him, not like she had ever been around a grimm before but she was told that most Hexenbiests could tell a grimm before they looked into their eyes, and she had looked into Nick's eyes plenty of times.

The bigger concern for her right now was how the hell did he pull her Hexenbiest to the surface? She had never read about that happening, and the fact that it took most of her control and focus to pull it back down had her shaken. She needed to talk to someone, only one person came to mind. She pulled out her phone and pressed 1, "I need to see you. I've been working with a Grimm."


End file.
